SVT launches 2026 election compass

Swedish public broadcaster SVT has released its election compass for the 2026 parliamentary vote, a tool used by 3 million people in the last election cycle.

Two-thirds of first- and second-time voters turned to the compass to match their views with party policies, according to SVT political reporter Fouad Youcefi. The tool presents 35 carefully selected questions—covering issues like forest protection, asylum policy, and taxation for high earners—to show how users’ answers align with parties and individual candidates.

“You can see how the blocs differ, but also how parties within the same bloc differ,” Youcefi said. “Most voters choose between two parties that are relatively close to each other.”

The questions were developed with political scientists from Indikator Opinion and SVT’s political commentators, based on surveys of around 2,000 Swedes. Youcefi called the process “an incredibly thorough effort,” emphasizing that the focus is on issues where parties actually disagree.

A national version is now available, with 290 local compasses for regional and municipal elections set to follow in the coming weeks. In 2022, 2.1 million people used the local versions.